Wedekind's controversial play occupies a special place in modern theatrical history as a key work of the naturalist school and the principal precursor of German Expressionism.

While each play in the Berenger cycle is unique, they are all prime examples of Ionesco's conception of the theatre of the absurd, and touch on themes that preoccupied Ionesco throughout his career, such as mortality, alienation, freedom and the evils of Fascism.

Cleverly deconstructing the detective genre, The Erasers, Alain Robbe-Grillet's first published novel, shifts between various characters and time frames, while maintaining the suspense of a conventional thriller. The result is an engrossing examination of consciousness and reality which is also one the founding texts of the nouveau roman school.

The Flanders Road' is not only a masterpiece of stylistic innovation, but also a haunting portrayal - based on a real-life incident - of the chaos and savagery of war.

Understated and impressionistic, and consisting almost entirely of dialogue, The Garden Square is one of Marguerite Duras's finest novels, which she also adapted to the stage.

The Heretic of Soana is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of Gerhart Hauptmann, the recipient of the 1912 Nobel Prize for Literature and one of the most important exponents of German Naturalism.

Written when the author of Cain's Book was at the height of his creative powers and enjoying an increasing reputation in avant-garde literary circles, `The Holy Man' is here presented with `A Being of Distances', `Peter Pierce' and `A Meeting', stories which similarly tackle themes of loneliness and disenfranchisement."

When Mathias, a travelling watch salesman, returns after many years to the island of his birth, a young girl is found dead on the rocks. As Mathias makes an increasingly tense recapitulation of his movements on the day of the event, tiny details slowly and inexorably accumulate.